Page 9 of Gaga for the Gargoyle
I’m also nervous because I’ve never had a one-night stand. People do it all the time, so why can’t I?
I’ve only slept with one man: my ex, Brandon. I met him as a freshman in high school, and we began dating the nextyear. We talked about splitting up after graduation, but our colleges were only an hour apart, so we stayed together.
Brandon doesn’t like change. He had a life plan: get his law degree, get married, land a job at a firm. He got everything he wanted.
We were married for fifteen miserable years. Well, not all of those fifteen years were horrible. He was a decent husband for our first five years of marriage, then he slowly lost interest. I’m pretty sure he cheated on me with his secretary.
He fought me on the divorce. He didn’t want it, claiming it would make him look bad amongst his colleagues. I didn’t care. I served him papers a week later. He made sure to punish me for leaving him too. He knew all the loopholes to get everything in the divorce. All I got was Birdie, but she was all I needed.
Fuck that asshole.
I wasted too much time on him. I never got a chance to live.
Now it’s my turn to be careless and free. I deserve this. Tonight, I’m going to fuck a stranger. I’m going to let himdestroyme.
I wonder if Xander uses that tail during sex?
I check the time. Nearly six. I have two hours to prepare my body.
Shower. Shave—everything. Lotion.
I keep my makeup simple, choosing cherry lip gloss and brown eyeshadow for a light smokey eye. I style my hair to feather around my face.
The summer night is hot, so the red dress I choose is short, with spaghetti straps to show off my tattoos. It also has built in support, which I don’t need a lot of since I’m a member of the itty-bitty-titty committee. I look sexy as hell in this dress, and I hope I won’t be wearing it long.
With one more look in the mirror, I slip on my black heels and grab my clutch.
The walk takes less than five minutes since I live close to the landmark cathedral. The moment the metal fence surrounding the building comes into view, my heart beats faster.
I become lightheaded, which always happens when I’m near this church. The dizziness doesn’t last long, only when I’m in this area. I never really thought about that being strange until tonight.
I’m too anxious to dwell on that thought though.
I arrive at the gate, but it’s locked. Sweat gathers on my lower back and at the nape of my neck.
Yep. I’m nervous. God, I hope I don’t look a mess. At least I smell good. Before I left, I sprayed myself with oneof my favorite perfumes, which has hints of strawberries and marshmallows.
I turn in circles, looking for my lavender man.
“Um, Xander?” I say out loud.
“I’m here,” a voice from behind says, making me jump.
I whip around, ready to throw punches, and find Xander standing an arm’s length away, his eyebrows furrowed.
I tilt my head to see him. And I mean all of him, to the tip of his horns. His wings may be tucked to his back, but they’re unmistakably there. His tail whips back and forth behind him.
“So it’s not cosplay,” I whisper.
His pinched forehead grows deeper, and he frowns. “I don’t understand.”
“You have horns and wings and a tail. What are you?”
He takes a step back and shakes his head.
“You shouldn’t be able to see my true form. I masked myself. I…”
When I move closer to him, he freezes hauntingly still. Like a statue.God, he’s beautiful. And he smells fantastic, like leather and bergamot. He’s dressed in all black, a tunic and dress pants. It’s casual yet stylish and slightly old-fashioned.
